Montana Artists Refuge records, 1994-2011

This collection consists of business records from the Montana Artists Refuge (MAR) which opened in Basin, MT in 1993 to offer artists a place to temporarily work and live in a rural setting. This collection includes employment records, financial records, minutes, organizational records, notes, presentations, published material, reports, subject files, and news clippings. The collection also includes digital records held on compact discs. The employment records include material relating to the selection of artists, the MAR Director, and the Residential Coordinator. The financial records cover the MAR budget, grant applications, and fund raising. The minutes are from the meetings of the MAR Board of Directors predominantly from the mid-2000s. Also included are the by-laws, board member biographies, and a "reflection" log from artists who stayed at the refuge. There are hand-written and typed notes discussing various fund-raising events and recruitment of board members. There is a presentation from the MAR Executive Director Claudette Montage to the 2007 Montana Legislature requesting funding. There are photocopies of articles written in national publications about the Refuge as well as an almost complete546 run of the MAR newsletters. A report on the progress of a grant funded project is also included. There are also a number of subject files covering events, publicity, and other promotional materials produced by the MAR. A small amount of clippings covering particular events are included, however most of the news clippings have been given to the library to add to their vertical files. There are also 41 compact discs that hold digital records. These records consist of mainly of organization records and photographs of various events. Due to copyright restrictions, most of the artwork has been removed from the collection. Some images included in the digital records show images of some of the artwork produced by Refuge residents. Two VHS cassette tapes highlighting the 2004 Teckno Powwow and the 2003 Jazz Brunch as well as three audio cassette tapes of the At Large w/ Leni Holliman KEMC Radio show in Billings where she either discusses the Refuge or interviews residents are also included. Copyright restrictions apply to all artwork and copyrighted work.